Ramil Blog

I sincerely apologize for not posting in over a week, but I was freaking out about midterms. Some of you might be thinking, "What's the big deal? It's only four tests!" Well, you thought wrong. Unlike most folks, I have to take a lot of 1, 2, and 3 credit courses, which means many more midterms. So while a normal schedule would have 16 credits (4 courses @ 4 credits each), I am taking 18 credits (10 courses, 2 seminars @ 0-4 credits each). And I tend to go a little overboard with studying. However, since my midterms in my 1-3 credit class aren't weighted as heavily, they aren't as substantial, but it's still a lot of added work. Also, I didn't have a midterm for each class, just for 7 of them. It's hard to balance all those midterms while classes are still going on, but I think I managed pretty well.

But now that they're over, I'd like to share some things that I've discovered about Bobst. Before this semester, I had never really taken advantage of Bobst, but now that I know her well, I think I will be visiting much more often. After spending many hours in NYU's impressive library, I believe I have mastered some good techniques on how to get the best study spot.

Okay, so the first thing you need to think about is whether or not you want to eat. If you do, then you've gotta head down to LL1. If you've got noisy, smelly or a ton of food, it's best to stay in the common area, but if you have quiet food, then you can study in the glass room.

If you do not have food, it's time to go upstairs to the reading rooms. It's okay if you've got something to drink, as long as it's covered. If you're looking for a quick, surefire way to get a great study spot, it's really easy: take the elevator to the tenth floor, walk up to the railing, look across the balcony, and scan for any open seats in the reading rooms. My favorite room is the Alumni Lounge on the 8th floor. It's got those desks with the tall, glass dividers, and the carpeting is red (not necessary but nice to have around).

Now if you're in it for the long haul, there's a more advanced strategy you can try. It doesn't always work, but when it does, the rewards are worth it. Yep, I'm talking about the table by the window. "How do those people get those seats?," you may wonder. "Have they been here all day?" "Did they pay money?," I have heard some ask. Maybe some of them have. There's no talking in there so no one will tell you. But I do know how you can be one of them. First, you have to find someone who looks like they've been studying for too long. These people will have empty cups of coffee, organized piles of papers, and will not care what they look like. Since all the tables have four chairs, take the seat either next to this person or across from them. If you're lucky, they won't last much longer, and you'll have a table by the window all for yourself. Once they have left, quickly spread out your things to discourage others from employing this strategy against you.

Now that you're armed with this knowledge, go use it! But if you see me at a table by the window on the 8th Floor, be ready for a challenge...

So, today I started my observations. It's kind of late to be starting now, but better late than never, right? "What are these observations for?" you may wonder. Well, before you can become a teacher in New York, you have to accumulate 100 observation hours at elementary and high schools. And today, I did my first high school observation.

The school I went to was crazy cool. Everything looked new, it had nine floors, and it was huge. I was kind of jealous of all the kids that I met there. They get to go to a great school, and they get to live in New York city. I didn't get to do that until I got to college!

As I was doing my observations, I was struck by all the similarities between what I was doing and what ethnographers do. You see, when you do observations for teacher preparation, it is rarely the case that you just sit in the corner and take notes. You often have to be a bit of a participant observer, just like an ethnographer. Of course, the extent to which you participate will vary, but whenever I observe, I always find that I have to help out in some capacity. Today, when there was some confusion about rehearsal numbers, I had to step in to clarify where the correct spot was. And then there's always the basic disciplinary tasks that I feel obligated to do. I know it's not exactly the same, but treating observations as a mini-ethnography makes them seem a lot cooler.

So today, my day was chock-full of NYU business. First, I attended my first ever RALI event. RALI stands for Resident Assistant Leadership Institute, and it's basically the first step in the RA selection process. I'm trying to be an RA next year, but since I'm studying abroad in Florence this spring, I have to start the process early. In addition, I signed up to be part of a Steinhardt photo shoot. While I only had to juggle these two things, it was kind of sticky because they were in different places at the same time.

The RA Leadership Institute was a lot less boring than I thought it was going to be. There was a lot of teaching, but also a lot of group work. We got to find out about our True Colors™, experience the program planning process, and play with LEGO's. RALI was actually kind of fun, but they still expect quite a bit of work from you.

So during lunch break, I ran from Palladium to campus to snap a couple of photos. It was cold and the photographer made us take out coats off, so I was unhappy about that. But I really like getting my picture taken, so it all evened out.

After the shoot, I walked back up to Palladium to finish the RALI program for the day. Going into the process, I wasn't really sure if being an RA was for me. But after attending RALI today, and after going through the ups and downs of the dorm experience, being an RA seems like something that I would want to do, and something that I could learn a lot from.

There are a lot of things that make NYU really unique. The campus space is an indefinite area centered around a public park, being nonconformist places you in the community majority, and every morning a small man forcefully reminds you exactly how late you are. So yesterday, in addition to all these things, I got to experience another unique part of NYU life: I got to participate in a Tisch student production.

With the amount of filming that Tisch students do, they often need their friends to help out in small ways. So, it's not uncommon to have Tischie friends ask you to do an interview, make sound effects, or be an extra in their movie. However, when my friend Craig asked me to help him out, his request was a bit different. For his final project, he's making an episode of a morning show, and he asked me to act in his cooking segment -- except it wasn't really acting because I wasn't really pretending.

It was kind of cool to have someone want to video tape me, because usually I have to force my friends to do it for me. I had a lot of fun during the shoot, but it turned out to be a lot more difficult than I thought. We were shooting live-to-tape, we were having technical difficulty with the sound, and I was working with real-live actors, which made me kind of nervous. Despite all the hard parts, Craig told me that the shoot went well, and that I did a good job. I'll try to upload a clip from the final product, but if I can't do that, then I can always shoot my own segment from "Master Chef Ramil's Kitchen."

If I had to name the most important skill that I've developed since I came to NYU, it would have to be time management. After a year and (almost) a half at college, I've learned that you can get so much more done through effective planning and sticking to a schedule. However, I have also learned that it feels so good to just blow everything off once and a while, and just do whatever you feel like. I think that today was a good example of both of these lessons.

I started my day, as I start everyday, by looking at my planner and preparing myself for the day's events. I love my planner, and I never leave home without it. For the first half of the day, I stuck strictly to the schedule laid out in my planner, and I accomplished all of my goals for the day: I went to all four of my classes; I practiced piano and flute for a good four hours; I studied for a quiz; and I rehearsed a duet.

I was having a pretty productive day. All I had left to do was complete my assignment for Music Theory III, and get to bed by 12. So, I decided to rest on my laurels a bit with some Super Smash Bros (I am preparing for a tournament). What was only supposed to be an hour of playing video games easily turned into three.

But that was fine - it was only 11 when we finished playing. "There's plenty of time left to do my homework," I told myself. I went to my friends' room to pick up my bookbag, and since I had some extra time, I hung out for a bit instead of immediately heading home. Hanging out took about an hour and a half, and then I decided I needed to get coffee to help me get through my Theory assignment.

Armed with a Grande dosage of caffeine, I finally sat down to do my homework at around 1. However, I decided that it would be a good idea to do my homework in a room full of people. Of course, nothing got done. (Well, not exactly nothing - I did watch the entire CNN/YouTube Republican Debate.)

Well, it's now 4:30 in the morning, I have to get up for class at 9:30, and I can't go to sleep because of all the coffee I drank. I'm going to be tired all day tomorrow, and I'm going to be too stressed out to do well on my quiz. But at least I learned an important lesson: as they would probably phrase it on Arrested Development, "And that's why you always stick to the schedule!"

With my Conducting and Keyboard Harmony finals out of the way, I only have 7 final exams/projects left to do. That sounds like a lot of obligations, but 4 out of the 7 remaining things happen tomorrow. Here's the breakdown:
9:30 - Aural Comprehension III Final
2:00 - Duet Performance
5:00 - Music History III Final
7:30 - Concert

It's very similar to The Perfect Storm, except without the big budget or Marky Mark. While I'm getting really stressed out about tomorrow, I'm kind of glad that I'll be able to get things out of the way. I feel pretty prepared for my finals, but I just wish I had a little bit more time to study those dates again, or practice that tricky part a few more times.

It's times like these that I start wishing for things from cartoons. Did you ever watch Dragon Ball Z? (I realize I may lose some of you on this next one, so I've provided a helpful link to jar your memory). Remember the Hyperbolic Time Chamber? You know, it's the place where Goku and the gang would go sometimes when they needed time to train. And it was great because 360 days in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber was equal to 1 day in the real world, so they were able to get strong enough to save the world with moments to spare. Imagine if that were real? I would never be stressed out about finals.

But if the Hyperbolic Time Chamber really did exist, I would probably have a lot of other things to worry about -- like having the football team beat me up for knowing entirely too much about the Hyperbolic Time Chamber.

Today marks my last day of school for fall semester, and it feels great to be done with exams, papers, and obligations. However, today also marks the last day I'll be on NYU's campus for about 5 months. So, while I'm glad to be free from all the stressful parts of school and the city, I wish I didn't have to say goodbye to all my friends.

I'm still really excited for the next couple months, though. Here's why: First, I'm going to Peru with MLK Scholars for a week and a half in January. We're doing community service projects in Urubamba, and seeing some of the local sights. Then, a day after I return from Peru, I'm turning around and going to Florence, where I'll be studying abroad for the semester. Once the semester ends, my friend Julie and I are traveling across Europe. We're going to Amsterdam, Prague, Budapest, and Barcelona.

So, to all my old friends and all my new friends at NYU and at home, have a great next semester, and I'll see you in 5 months!! Make sure to read my blog for updates.

As you may already know, here at NYU in Florence, I am a part of the community service housing program called Vivere il Volontariato. In addition to planning charity events and holding fundraisers, I also have to fill a community service requirement. So, every Wednesday, I teach English at a school here in Florence.

At first, I was a bit skeptical about my ability to teach a classroom full of Italian teenagers because I can't speak Italian. But as time went on, I picked up more Italian, and I got to know the kids a lot better. Luckily, it's a pretty fun job. I don't get paid for it, and I have to get up early once a week, but I really enjoy it. The kids are cool, and I get to run the class however I want.

Today, we played English Pictionary. The kids picked their own words, and then drew and guessed for points. Other weeks, we use flashcards, talk about our families, or talk about American culture. Although I am the teacher in the classroom, I feel like I learn as much from them as they learn from me. For example, in our discussion about American culture, I learned that Italian people think that all Americans own guns, are overweight, and get divorced. I quickly corrected them: only most Americans are fat, gun-toting divorcees. I also learned that Italian kids begin smoking and drinking at an extremely young age (around 12-13), and that it is very common to frequently skip school.

However, don't think that my Italian school children are complete delinquints. They're actually quite talented. The class that I teach wrote their own play and they're planning to perform it at a theater here in Florence in May. The play illustrates the cultural diversity of their classroom community, and how their languages and racial backgrounds affect their interactions at school. Unfortunately, I will be gone for the performance, but hopefully by then, they'll at least know a little bit more English.

So, after months of anxious waiting and nervously continuing the housing process, I finally heard back from Res Ed... and I'm going to be an RA next year at Gramercy Green! I really have been waiting a long time, because I went through the whole RALI process back in like December, and it's been on my mind for a while. But now that I finally know, it's a big relief.

And I'm really excited to be at Gramercy Green! It's a new dorm with 21 floors for 900 students, and it's located on 23rd and 3rd. It is a bit of a way away, but there's a shuttle, and biking would be cool. The rooms look really sweet, as well.

But aside from all the obvious perks like having a single and free room and board, I am very much looking forward to the real aspects of being an RA. It will be cool to plan events, and with NYU's budget backing them, people might just actually come. I'm also excited to get to know my new residents. Since Gramercy is an upperclassmen dorm, I'll be better able to relate to my residents. I know there's only a couple years of difference between classes, but I feel like freshman problems are always so much more complicated. Also, I'm kind of looking forward to meeting all my fellow RA and staff members at Gramercy. I remember from Freshman year how much of a community the RAs had, and I was always a little bit jealous of them. They got to hang out and work with their friends all the time, and it was so much a part of their lives. So, there's a lot to look forward to, but at the same time, I know that it will be a lot of work, too.

Next semester is still a long way off, but getting selected to be an RA made me realize how much I miss NYC. But in the mean time, I guess all I can do is think about nametag designs and sort through my favorite icebreakers.

During this past semester, I have been involved in a bunch of community service with Vivere il Volontariato at NYU in Florence. In addition to teaching English at a school, my roommates and I have been raising money and awareness for Dynamo Camp (pronounced DEE-nah-moh). "Dynamo Camp is the first summer camp in Italy to be structured specifically for children with serious or chronic illnesses who are currently in therapy or in post-hospitalization convalescence." Dynamo Camp, a Hole in the Wall Camp, is a Paul Newman initiative, and he started it here because, while we have organizations like Make-A-Wish in America, Italy offers no camp-like programs for seriously and terminally ill children.

So, to get people donating to and talking about Dynamo Camp, we did two things: 1) We had bake sales and 2) we held a talent show. Both of the things worked really well, and I think we accomplished our goals. We raised quite a bit of money, and everyone on campus now knows about Dynamo Camp.

In the end, everything turned out amazing, but for a time, things weren't so great. Most of us in Vivere il Volontariato had little experience with fund raisers, and even less with event planning. It was really hard to make the bake sales profitable, especially with a couple different factors working against our favor. And we really thought that the Talent Show was going to turn into a flop. The lowest point was definitely the week before the show, and maybe three people had bought tickets to the show. After working for months deciding on logistics, organizing talent, and having meetings, it looked like all of our hard work would be for nothing.

We knew that we had to change something if we wanted to sell more tickets. So, instead of having bake sales, we began to give away free baked goods. Now it sounds ridiculous, and with the sign

"Free Cookies** (**'Free Cookie' offer only eligible for Talent Show ticket holders)"

So, this last Monday, I was in a concert over here for school. It was a nice, ecclectic show. First, my chamber group performed, then the two jazz ensembles, and then some the faculty performed. I was impressed at how quickly our director, Antonio Vanni, had assembled everything. I was also impressed at the quality of all the performances. All the groups were great, and it really was a privilege to share the stage with so many talented musicians.

I think my group's performance went well, except my battery ran out midway through, so the only footage I managed to get was the first piece, Assobio a Jato (The Jet Whistle) by Villa-Lobos. Check it out:

Well, the day is finally here: the final day in Florence. NYU kicks me out of my apartment at 12:00, so like a smart person I booked my flight for 20:00 (that's 8:00 PM in this crazy side of the world). My stuff is all packed up, and everything looks so empty now!

I apologize profusely for using this cliche, but it really does feel like yesterday that I just moved in and met all my new roommates and started school. The semester went by so fast, but I'm pretty sure that I don't have any regrets about my stay in Florence. I'm taking the opportunity now to travel, I really did learn a lot despite the obvious distractions, and I picked up some Italian along the way. And I feel like I've grown up a lot over here, too. I've made - and unmade - some very important relationships while I've been abroad, and I think I'll carry them with me for a long time.

I'm going to miss all of Florence's old, stinky art, the ridiculous Italian clothes and hair, all of my Italian teachers, and the relaxed (although very inefficient) Italian atmosphere, but what I will miss most about this experience are the friends I made here. We all got so close so fast; it really did feel like we had known each other for years in only a semester. It even got to the point where we got sick of each other's company. I know we would always complain about how every weekend, we would just sit around, play games, and listen to music in our apartment, but honestly, those are my best memories of Florence.

Looking back, when I remember Florence, I'm not going to think about the trips I took, or the classes I was in, but about the havoc the was wrecked on Mexican night. Or the times we spent hula-hooping under the Duomo. Or our game nights with Hide-and-go-seek, Jenkins, and Charades. Or walking back home together at 4:00 in the morning. Or the countless times we listened to M.I.A.

I know we'll all hang out in New York, but it won't be the same. We'll have to go back to our real lives, and worry about jobs and school. We'll have all of our other real friends to hang out with, and our friends from Wake Forest and UMiami won't be there. But I guess that's all part of the experience, right? You have make friends before you can miss them. I really hope that we can all stay in each other's lives because you all mean so much to me. I had a great time in Florence with all my friends, and I will remember this experience because of you guys.